Just to highlight reasons to be nervous about potential Vollmer rust; in the game in Pittsburgh, Vollmer was totally owned by Woodley leading to one sack that killed a drive and pressures that hampered many others. He also allowed the Brett Keisel strip sack that killed our last drive and led to a safety. Pretty sure he had a few false starts in that game as well. The gap between the last time he played before that game was like two weeks. We're going on 6 now. So rust is a legitimate concern.

Turning the page a little bit, I'm looking at what Denver did against Pittsburgh that was effective. Clearly, Big Ben just couldn't get comfortable with that ankle. He wasn't able to step up into the pocket or extend plays(with the exception in the late 3rd and early 4th where he appeared to just go into **** it mode. Led to real good ball movement for Pittsburgh, along with Redman running very hard) the way he was able to, which made for a major advantage for Denver. They did some interesting thing with their defensive front though. They played a lot of two down, 3 up linebacker fronts and were still able to generate pressure. Not only are they able to rush the passer, it can come from a variety of places. I really kind of like that look for today's pass heavy NFL if you have the personnel to run it. The Packers did similar things last year to great effect.

But yeah, they were able to generate a lot of pressure from that front. Wouldn't surprise me to see them go to that against us as well. The pressure can come from a lot of places. They love to move Miller around. He's been pretty effective on the stunt this year, which could be a good opurtinity for them to try to create some confusion and attack multiple gaps, which would play into the fact we're bringing guys some guys back after not playing for a bit. I think it's really important for the offensive line to come out ready to play. We've mentioned it before, but that's been a bit of an issue around these parts lately, where they've taken some time to settle into the action before keeping Brady clean.

One thing we could elect to do to counter that is going to the no huddle earlier on an exotic formation and try to establish the run. Pittsburgh ran for 156 on 23 carries(6.8 average) on the Broncos last week. It's a good way to get them to go a more vanilla look, as well as lighten the pressure on Brady. It could be a big game for Ridley if he's ready to go. Our tight ends can create some match up problems(as always) if the linebackers are rushing, with Gronk having a massive size advantage at the line of scrimmage and Hernandez getting a potentially clean release.

Regardless of how we choose to attack it, we can't let the pass rush become a factor and ruin it all the way it has the past few years.

I think Pittsburgh being down a starting center and left tackle later contributed to the pressure Denver was able to generate, which is not to say Elvis and Von Scary won't against us, just that it will be more difficult for them. Champ Baily can still play, however, so they can keep him singled up against Welker. It did look to me like Denver had problems setting the edge so I agree we should be able to run the ball. Conversely, with Spikes and Chung back I don't think Denver will have the same success they did the first game running the ball.

I don't think Denver will be able to sustain drives, so if we can avoid the slow starts and keep the pressure on them we should be able to pull away in the second half. Brady just needs to be Brady and we should be okay. While Denver can win, they'll need to play nearly perfectly and the Patriots will have to be flat. That is possible as we well know. For me, personally, I just want the Patriots to win a playoff game. After that, whatever else happens is gravy.

Last time against the Broncos the problem against the run was mainly with setting the edge, especially Ninko. So the runs came outside so I don't know how much Spikes will help there. Chung will be a massive upgrade, however, and I think we're going to win this game. I don't think we're going to put up 41 again, but somehow we'll find a way. Having coach McDaniels back could prove to be a huge thing since he'll likely get a few new things incorporated in the gameplan that the Bronocs won't be prepared for.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by ElectricEye

I'm a whiny little kunt. Feel sorry for me as I go masturbate to a picture of my mom dressed as a teletubby.

So Demaryius Thomas kind of concerns be against our secondary, even if we aren't playing a Cover 0/1 on the backend. He's the kind of guy who could really work us, even if we aren't giving up the deep ball(which is a possibility). At 6'3 235, he's the kind of bigger receiver we've had trouble containing all year. Knowing where he is and being able to tackle him before he gets going will be a big thing. Thomas is really good getting the and using his size and speed to get extra yardage, which works on low degree of difficulty short throws too if we're getting sucked worrying about the option. Tackling in general is the biggest thing I think we should be stressing all week. Sounds like that's the case with full padded practices all week.

The team is selling Mankins as a game time decision. If there was one guy I would bet the house on playing through any sort of injury on this team, it would be him. I highly doubt that he doesn't find a way to get out there and play.

The team is selling Mankins as a game time decision. If there was one guy I would bet the house on playing through any sort of injury on this team, it would be him. I highly doubt that he doesn't find a way to get out there and play.

I think I've mentioned this before, but I live like and work like ten minutes away from the stadium. Today is the windiest day we've had in a good while around these parts, with a lot of large branches blowing off of trees. I even saw a downed mailbox on my way to work today. The weather forecast says tomorrow isn't supposed to be quite as windy, but it's still going to be significant. Between that and the cold(it's supposed to be 9 degrees at 8 tomorrow night, which is weird since it's like 55 right now), it's not going to be ideal conditions for passing the football. We've seen this team deal with snow and wind before, so I'm not terribly concerned about it, but it's worth noting. It might actually effect what Denver wants to do more than it does with us, as Tebow's passes are notoriously wobbly.

Meh... The Pats are the best bad weather football team...possibly EVER. I'm never worried about weather...it's always a bonus if it's bad, imo.

I don't really anticipate it does between the team preparing for adverse weather conditions and the type of passing game we're running right now. We had a walkthrough today, and knowing BB it was likely outdoors.

Some tough breaks on the injury front; Chung was listed again on the report with a knee after being clean for the first time in a bit yesterday. Despite strong initial reports about Mankins, he was seen limping around a little bit yesterday. Sounds like it's more of a 50/50 thing with him, although I don't doubt he's going in with the attitude he'll play.

Chung not being able to go would be a bit of a blow, but I think we can mitigate that loss a bit by playing McCourty at safety. I think we were going to see some of that anyway in sub packages, but it would certainly make some sense if he were to get more snaps there if that's the case.

...then again, this all might be us ******* with the injury report. Always a possibility.

Mike Reiss pretty much nails it with this column and it's implied conclusion is what I've talked about all year; it's time to either win or change things up in a major way. The standards are absolutely higher here than they are elsewhere.... and they should be. When you have a Hall of Fame quarterback, just making it every year is not good enough.

It's really strange, I'm just some random fan yet I can barely stand the anxiety. Intellectually I can't rationalize it, because after all it's just a football game. Should they lose though it'll be ... well, words fail.

No disrespect intended for Denver, but we are the better team. One monstrous quarter by them last game doesn't necessarily extrapolate to dominating this game. Second quarter turn overs not withstanding, Denver was still in that game at the half and we saw what happened.

If we can't win this game, at home, with this weather, against that quarterback, then yeah there's something wrong :)

I am very nervous for this game. I know in my mind that the patriots have clear advantages in almost all phases of the game, but I somehow keep convincing myself that Denver has all the advantages. I think I might just go to the gym from now until 8 tonight.

I am very nervous for this game. I know in my mind that the patriots have clear advantages in almost all phases of the game, but I somehow keep convincing myself that Denver has all the advantages. I think I might just go to the gym from now until 8 tonight.

Consecutive playoff exits will do that to you. It's so funny, because I legitimacy knew this team was going to find a way to win to win just about any game we went in before. These days, I'm worried about us finding ways to lose them, even in situations where we clearly outclass the team we're going up against.

...but even one playoff win would go a long way towards fixing that, probably. That's the only real way you can measure the progress this team has made. We've seen and done it all in the regular season already.